That Prompt, I Don't Think It Means What You Think It Means
by invisible0one
Summary: English: Unintentionally giving fanfiction writers ideas since...well, since Lancer. A one-shot collection mostly inspired by the first things to come to mind when shown a prompt for English.
1. Don't Pay Too Much For Your Whistle

**Don't Pay Too Much for Your Whistle**

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When it was all said and done, these powers weren't worth half the pain I went through to get them. Sure it was an accident, but I couldn't help remembering one of my mom's favorite sayings whenever I thought back to the event that made me half-ghost.

_"Don't pay too much for your whistle."_

Jazz and I had grown up with mom repeating that saying every time we learned that something wasn't worth what we went through to get it. She'd told us who the quote came from half as many times as she actually said it, but I couldn't remember anything more specific than it coming from one of the founding fathers.

Don't pay too much for your whistle. I'd never managed to learn the lesson as I went through my childhood, but now it's message rang loud and clear. I'd damn near died in that portal, and even now I was walking a line that left me half-dead. Everyone who knows the truth about me thought these powers were cool, but ever since I'd gotten them, I knew one thing.

I'd paid way too damn much for this whistle.

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_So...um...yeah, I've finally given in and started up a collection of one-shots. These first few are going to be rather short since they were literally the first things that came to mind when asked to write a short entry in response to a prompt in my English textbook._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always!_


	2. Clockwork

Clockwork was known as the Master of Time and the only one who actually knew what the hell was going on at any singular point in time. It wasn't a name he had chosen, nor one the others had given to him. It simply was his name and title, and no one questioned it. Why bother questioning what everyone innately knew?

Others thought he was confusing and his supervision frankly found him vexing, others just assumed that if there was a god then he was it. Having the power to control the time stream, past, present and future, had to count for some godlike power, didn't it? Even the ghosts, and the occasional human, who claimed not to believe in a higher power couldn't deny that Clockwork held powers well beyond anything they could ever hope to have. It didn't matter how powerful you were, if he wanted you to freeze in mid-air, hit a bell, back up and hit it again, then you would. Notably, it probably wouldn't be because you wanted to, but with the power of time on his side it was hard to go against what Clockwork wanted.

He may or may not have been the source of every dejavu you've ever had. A guy gets bored, what other explanation do you want?

Clockwork didn't see himself as an exceptionally special person. To him, all he was was someone with a job and a responsibility. He'd been born into the Ghost Zone with the job of protecting the time stream. Didn't it only make sense that he would do the only job he could ever remember having? Perhaps it had turned into a bit of an obsession, but it was still his responsibility. What was so special about that?

He could only barely understand the wonder some people held when they saw him move from age to age for the first time. It was just how he worked, how was it anymore amazing than the purple cloak, the time medallion, or the staff he kept on him at all times? To him, his shifting age was normal, but to others it was extraordinary.

Clockwork was known as the Master of Time, but he hardly thought anything of it.

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_Whoo for characterization practices... No? No whoo? Oh well..._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

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_Invisible One_


	3. Phantom's Child

**Phantom's Child**

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None of the ghosts had ever liked Phantom. They didn't believe something that human should come into the Ghost Zone and stay there. Even after Phantom's human half had died, the ghost of the hero still seemed to flicker back and forth between the ghost and human realms. This trait was something all of Phantom's children, regardless of how diluted the blood of Phantom was or how exactly the child had been conceived, inherited. You could a child was Phantom's by just watching it closely for a few moments. Even those born to ghosts in the Ghost Zone shared that one tale-tell trait. It took a few months to show up, but it was always there.

No one approved of the mixing of Phantom's blood into the ghosts of their realm. Why would any of them want to be that human? Why would any child of Phantom bare another after enduring the hell that came with it? Those that held the blood of Phantom either didn't breed at all or left their children at birth. Those born past the first generation were mistakes, an unwanted mix of ghost and human. Even though there were still a few royals descended from Phantom and his short reign over the Ghost Zone, no one wanted to admit it when they bore a child of Phantom.

Even though Phantom had been the strongest of all of them during his half-life, there was still a disgrace to being that human or having a child that closely connected to the human realm. The realms were meant to be separate, and Phantom had ruined that separation. Sure, there were two others that were half human, but they'd never had kids. Phantom had kids, he'd forever infested the Ghost Zone with part-human scum. Everyone had hated him before, but now it was worse. This wasn't just a matter of kicking their asses every once in a while, this was worse. This was throwing the natural balance off.

Phantom and his fully human wife had had four kids of their own, and frankly the ghosts could have dealt with that if the human infestation had stopped there. It was when later generations started showing human-like qualities that the ghosts drew the line. This was a gene that would be passed down for generations and plague the realm designed for the ghosts. The humans had their world and the ghosts had theirs. The two weren't meant to mix, but apparently Phantom hadn't gotten the memo.

If only Skulker had managed to catch the halfa in his early years, then the whelp wouldn't have been able to unleash this curse of humanity among them.

The distemper over Phantom's children seemed to be ingrained in even the youngest ghosts. It didn't matter whether a ghost came from a human that'd passed on or two ghosts that had started a family of their own- all of them knew that being Phantom's child was a disgrace to both worlds.

Lilith was a ghost who'd been abandoned at birth, but she'd never shown any of the tell-tale signs that she was a descendent of Phantom. While it wasn't nearly as common for a normal ghost to be left on their own at birth, it certainly wasn't unheard of. She didn't seem to flicker back and forth between the worlds, so eventually a family took her in. They never gave her their names, only cared for her as a mother and father for the few years until she came of age.

As soon as she hit a hundred, the unofficial age of adulthood for natural born ghosts, she took off to find her mate. Eternity would be hell without someone to spend it with. She wasn't sure if she wanted to try having a family of her own like so many ghosts did, but she did want someone to spend these years with. It took her two years, and amazing feat by most anyone's standards, to find her mate. James was a ghost born in the Zone, just like her. They were equal in power and nearly equal in skill. Everyone liked to believe there were other things that went into a ghostly relationship, but honestly it didn't matter what two ghosts were like. So long as they had equal power and skill, they could usually easily spend eternity together.

James had always been an odd ghost, he had a weird personality and the strongest aversion to Phantom's children that she'd ever known, but she'd found something to love in there. It didn't matter that his powers, while strong, seemed to falter at the oddest times, she still loved him. After all, she'd always been one to believe matches weren't entirely dependent upon power.

It took James almost too centuries of trying to finally convince Lilith to have a family, and before long they had their own little ball of ectoplasm growing into the child they'd created together.

Things were great at first, but as the child neared just a year in age, James started to pull away. It started him just stopping and staring at the child for a while, then he'd started hesitating to touch it, and now he seemed unable to look at it. Lilith didn't know what was wrong until she found herself staring at the child.

Against all possibilities, the child was noticeably flickering back and forth between the ghost realm and the human world. Against all possibilities, this was one of Phantom's children.

Lilith couldn't believe her eyes. How was it possible that she'd born a child of Phantom?

"What does it mean?" she asked, even though the answer was already engraved in her mind.

"What do you think it means?" Her mate spat back, bitterly. "You're a child of Phantom! That's why you were abandoned at birth! I always knew there was something off with you, but how could you keep this from me?" His words were even, making them scarier than if he'd screamed them.

"But I'm not! I've never had the flicker!"

"Either you're a liar or a cheater! Either way, I want you and that _thing_ out of my haunt!"

"You don't love me," she whispered, picking up the child she still held dear.

"How could I love a mutation like you?"

Lilith started to walk out, stopping to look back as reached the door. "Well? What the hell are you waiting for? Get out of my haunt and don't let me see you again!"

There were tears running down her face as she floated through the door carrying the child in her arms. She didn't know her own background, but she knew she could never be as heartless as her mate had been. Whether it was Phantom's child or not, it was still hers.

Three months later, James found a diary of his obliterated mother. Most of it had been destroyed with its owner, but there was one very important entry that'd survived.

_When James was first brought into the ghost realm, we didn't think we'd be able to hide where he'd come from. Against all odds though, he doesn't display the flickering of Phantom's children. Seeing as his grandmother, Lily, was one of Phantom's original children, we didn't think there was any chance the gene would get diluted this soon, but luck appears to be on his side. Perhaps we can spare him the hells of being one of Phantom's Children._

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_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

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_Invisible One_


	4. On Your Own

A part of her really couldn't believe she was doing this, but the rest of her knew it would make everything better. Danny didn't deserve to be on his own, he didn't deserve to be the only one that could really fight to do the right thing. He deserved to have someone by his side who he didn't have to worry about more than his own life. She could help him. Tucker wasn't around to help anymore, but she still was.

Just a few minutes in that portal and Danny would have a partner of equal power ay his side to help him.

She unplugged the portal and walked inside to turn it completely off. She swallowed, looking around at the inside of the portal. Not many people ever got to see the all the little circuits that made the thing work. Tucker would have had a field day, if he were still around.

Sam took a deep breath, walking out of the portal and plugging it back in again. This was really going to happen; even though she had been planning it for weeks, it was still hard for her to believe.

She stood at the outside of the portal, gathering the nerve she needed to step inside. This was for Danny, she could do this for him.

"Sam! Stop!" She turned to see Danny running down the stairs towards her. "Don't do it!" he yelled, just before he reached her and pulled her away from the portal.

"Danny?" she asked, slightly confused. How had he even known she was down here?

"Sam," he said, holding her to him tightly. "What the hell were you thinking?" He had a feeling he already knew, but she apparently needed to talk about about.

"You don't deserve to be dealing with this shit on your own. You deserve to have someone with you."

He kissed the top of her head, an act that still made her blush. "I have never been alone in this, Sam. I've always had you there."

"I know, I just want to be able to help you more. I'll never be as strong as I could be if I'm just human."

Danny took a deep breath, he had honestly hoped he would never have to tell Sam this. "Remember the portal explosion that killed Tucker?" She nodded, obviously upset at the mention of their lost friend. She'd never really been able get over Tucker's death. "He wasn't outside the portal when it exploded."

This was new information for Sam. Danny had never talked much about what happened, but he'd always made it sound like Tucker was outside the portal when the explosion happened. She didn't say anything, only waited for Danny continue.

"Tucker tried the same thing you were about to. After I tried to get rid of my powers, my parents weren't ever able to make it work the same again. Tucker tried to recreate my accident, but the portal couldn't stand the same conditions anymore. The stress caused the explosion." He could feel his emotions slipping out of control and had to pause to lock them back up. "Tucker died trying to turn himself half-ghost and I refuse to lose you the same way. I'm fine being the halfa in this town trying to do something good as long as I still have you."

"Danny, why didn't you tell me the truth?"

"Because it was easier to tell you it was just an accident instead of telling you it was mine. Sam, I never wanted you guys to know damn close I came to becoming a full ghost that day. I honestly shouldn't have made it out of that accident alive." He couldn't stop a lone tear from rolling down his cheek. "Tucker found out how damn lucky I was the hard way."

"You should have told us, Danny," Sam whispered, snuggling herself into his chest more. A part of her wasn't surprised that he'd kept his mouth shut about that, but she still wished he'd told them. If he had, Tucker might have still been around.

"I know, Sam. I just didn't want to, I didn't know how you guys would react. I found out how stupid that was when Tucker died."

"Let's stop talking about Tucker," Sam said suddenly. Her own emotions were getting out of control and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with it. "I wish you weren't on your own in this."

"I'm not on my own, Sam. I have you."

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_What...where...__where did that come from? o_O_

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :__D_

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_Invisible One_


	5. What We Had

Even though it had been over a year and a half since I'd seen Danny, it seemed I still couldn't stop myself from thinking about him. Maybe Danny wasn't the only friend I'd ever had, but he was the only person who'd ever fully understood me. He knew how I issues with socializing, but he never tried to change that about me like so many others had. He didn't just tell me to go say hi to random people, he took me up to someone he knew, someone who he knew wouldn't try and change who I was, and when he started talking to his friend he pulled me into the conversation. Danny never pushed me enough to piss me off, just enough that I could make friends and get to know people even though I had issues starting a conversation. That's how I met Tucker.

Honest to god, I never really thought it would happen, but somewhere along the line I fell in love with that idiot. I never actually got to tell him the truth, but I fell in love with Danny. He was my best friend, the only person who ever truly understood who I was, and I fell in love with him somewhere in freshman year. I was a blind idiot back then, trying to convince myself it anything but what I knew it was. I didn't want to fall in love with him; he was my best friend and having feelings for him could screw everything up. A part of me wanted to spend the rest of my life with Danny, but I was so scared of losing him if something went wrong. I wanted to be with him, but I didn't want to risk losing him.

When Danny got stuck in the portal, watched as he was electrocuted and in that moment I thought I'd lost him. He was stuck in that damned thing for five minutes before the safety finally switched on and cut the power. The first time I saw him in his ghost mode, I damn near screamed because I thought he was gone. Maybe it's cliché, but I couldn't imagine my life without him. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I was in love with Danny and I knew trying to live without him would be nothing short of Hell.

And now I'm here, just over two years after the accident and I'm finding out that I was right: trying to live without Danny is Hell and then some. I'd always known that the people at school really didn't care about me, but when I no longer had the buffer Danny provided I realized just how fucking much people hated me. The only reason anyone but Danny and Tucker put up with me is that I usually had all the answers in class, but as soon as I actually didn't understand something I didn't exist anymore. Danny would have laughed at me, especially if it was something he actually knew, but he wouldn't have just acted like I didn't exist. He would have helped me while he was poking at me, I would do the same thing to him.

Don't get me wrong, Tucker was great, but Tucker and I didn't have the same connection Danny and I had. I never dated Danny before he disappeared, but I almost don't think we needed to. What we had was special. It was something amazing that I'm sure a lot of people don't ever find and even though I never told him how I felt, looking back I realize that he probably felt the same way.

Danny disappeared without a trace. I don't know what the hell happened or where he is. I can't get in contact with him and I doubt I'll ever know why he didn't say goodbye.

I never wanted to fall in love with my best friend, but I did and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. I can't tell him how I feel because I waited too fucking long. Danny is the man I fell in love with, and it hurts like hell to know I may never see him again. It hurts like hell to know that I can't just tell him how I really feel. It hurts like hell trying to live without him.

People have told me to move on and let go, but I can't. It's stupid and it probably won't end in anything but hurt, but I can't let go. It hurts like hell to keep hanging on to a man I may never see again, but it hurts more to try letting go. Letting go feels too much like giving up. Danny never gave up on me, and I refuse to give up on him.

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_Yup, I'm ranting again. Whoo._

_There may be more to this from Danny's perspective, I haven't completely decided yet._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

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_Invisible One_


	6. The Unlikely Guardian

They all thought I was just a pest, but really I was a guardian. I'm a lot stronger than they think- it actually takes a lot of power to be able to hide how much of it you really had. The ghosts around Phantom's town all think I'm completely useless, and I don't blame them. If they knew how strong I really was, then my act wouldn't be working.

Phantom is a good kid trying to do the right thing, but he's bitten off more than he can chew. The ghosts right around the portal aren't too bad and he can handle those, but the ones closer to the center of the Ghost Zone are stronger and older than him, just like I am. They all know me well, most of them having gotten their ass kicked by me once or twice. They all know it takes a lot to bring me down, and anything that can get past me threatens their own existence.

I use that to my advantage- I use that to help Phantom. Every time I venture into the real world, I let myself get beaten and come back grumbling about Phantom's power. The real threats in the Ghost Zone don't care to venture out into the real world after that. Why go out there when it would put their very existence at stake?

Everyone near the portal thinks I'm a useless pest, but they don't realize what I'm doing for them.

Beware, for I am the Box Ghost.

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_I can't tell if I need sleep or if this is a half-way interesting idea... You guys will have to tell me._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always!_

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_Invisible One_


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